Programme of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevists), Adopted at the VIIIth conference of the Party, Moscow, 18–23rd March, 1919, English Translation Published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International.)
The same thought has been recently expressed by Trotzky as follows (see Soviet Russia, April 2, 1921):
The international proletariat has set out to seize the power. Whether civil war is or is not "in general" one of the indispensable attributes of revolution "in general" it is nevertheless incontestable that the forward movement of the proletariat, in Russia, in Germany, and in certain parts of what was once Austria-Hungary, has taken on the form of civil war to the bitter end. And that not only on internal fronts but also on external fronts.
The military part of this program is in abeyance because of the failure of attempted Bolshevist revolutions in neighboring countries such as Hungary, Bavaria, etc., and also because of the economic and military weakness of the Soviets, but the Soviet régime has not overlooked a single opportunity to assault a weakened neighbor, as we see from the attack on Poland August, 1920, and the recent conquest of Georgia and neighboring territories. The very oath of the Red Army shows it is regarded as a force for "liberating" the world proletariat. The following clauses of the oath are quoted from the report of the Russian delegation of the British Labor Party:
